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Larry Eyler

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Larry Eyler
September 29, 1984 mugshot
Born(1952-12-21)December 21, 1952
Crawfordsville, Indiana, U.S.
DiedMarch 6, 1994(1994-03-06) (aged 41)
Pontiac, Illinois, U.S.
Cause of deathcomplications from AIDS
Other namesThe Highway Killer
The Interstate Killer
The Highway Murderer
Conviction(s)Murder,
Aggravated Kidnapping
Criminal penaltyDeath
Details
Victims19-23
Span of crimes
March 22, 1982 – May 7, 1984
CountryUnited States
State(s)Illinois
Indiana
Kentucky
Ohio
Wisconsin
Date apprehended
August 21, 1984

Larry Eyler (December 21, 1952 – March 6, 1994) was an American serial killer convicted and sentenced to death in Illinois for the 1984 murder and dismemberment of 15-year-old Daniel Bridges.

Active in the Midwest, before his death he confessed to 21 further homicides of young men and boys he had committed between 1982 and 1984 in five separate states. While awaiting execution, Eyler died in 1994 of AIDS-related complications. His defense attorney, Kathleen Zellner, posthumously released his list of victims.[1]

Case history

Eyler, a house painter, was described by some members of the gay community in Indianapolis, Indiana as a good-looking person with a "hot temper", who "projected violence during sex acts". After being charged with the 1982 murder of Steven Agan, 23, in that city, Eyler confessed to authorities in a plea bargain.

See also: Newton County John Does

Eyler was believed to be involved in additional murders of young men during the next two years. Two of Eyler's victims, who were discovered in 1983 in Newton and Jasper counties, Indiana, are unidentified as of 2016.[2]

Conviction in the Daniel Bridges case

Daniel Bridges was a 15-year-old boy whose dismembered body was discovered on August 21, 1984, in a garbage dumpster in the Rogers Park neighborhood on Chicago's far North Side. One of 12 children in his family, Bridges lived in the same neighborhood as Larry Eyler, and knew Eyler. While on his way to meet relatives nearby, Bridges accepted a ride from Eyler, but according to the relatives, he never arrived. It was later alleged that Eyler had bound Bridges to a chair and proceeded to beat, rape, and kill him before dismembering his body.[3]

Eyler was charged with murder, aggravated kidnapping and unlawful restraint.[4] He was convicted in July 1986 of Bridges' murder and sentenced to death.[5]

At the time of Eyler's death from AIDS, he was awaiting his execution. He was represented by attorney Kathleen Zellner, who had made an appeal disputing the conviction in the Bridges' murder. This was pending in the Illinois Supreme Court. The appeal maintained that one of Eyler's trial lawyers, David Shippers, had a conflict of interest as he had received $16,875 from a prosecution witness, Robert David Little. Little and Eyler had long been associated. Eyler had claimed that Little was the one who had killed Bridges.[6] After Eyler's death, Zellner confirmed that she would proceed with filing the appeal to clarify various legal issues.[6]

Other potential victims

The book Freed to Kill (1990) explored Eyler's potential connection to multiple murders and missing young men in Indiana and Illinois, resulting in investigations being reopened in several jurisdictions.[7]

After Eyler's death, his defense attorney Kathleen Zellner revealed the names of 17 males whom Eyler had confessed to murdering and four who he said were murdered by an unidentified accomplice. That person was later revealed to be Robert David Little, an older college professor and longtime associate.[8]

According to Zellner, Eyler had made the list of victims around three years before his death, in an effort to obtain a plea bargain. The prosecutors did not agree to the plea bargain. Later, Eyler allowed his lawyer to release the list.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ The Telegraph March 9, 1994
  2. ^ "Case File: 999UMIN". doenetwork.org. The Doe Network. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  3. ^ Myers, Linnet (2 July 1986). "Grisly Find Made Sister `Hysterical`". Chicago Tribune.
  4. ^ Myers, Linnet (1986-07-02). "Grisly Find Made Sister `Hysterical`". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-10-12.
  5. ^ Eyler guilty in teen boy's murder, Chicago Tribune (pre-1997 Fulltext) - Chicago, Ill, Author: Linnet Myers, Date: 10 July 1986, retrieved 30 May 2010
  6. ^ a b Sarah Talalay, "EYLER DIES IN PRISON; HAD AIDS; LAWYER TO TALK ON CONFESSIONS", Chicago Tribune (pre-1997 Fulltext), 7 March 1994, retrieved 30 May 2010
  7. ^ John O'Brien, "Call helped link Eyler to slayings", Chicago Tribune(pre-1997 Fulltext), 16 Dec 1990, retrieved 30 May 2010
  8. ^ "A MUGSHOT OF DR. ROBERT DAVID LITTLE". 29 November 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  9. ^ John O'Brien, "THE EYLER LEGACY: 21 DEATHS MURDERER ADMITTED GRISLY 2-STATE SPREE", Chicago Tribune (pre-1997 Fulltext), 9 March 1994, retrieved on 30th May 2010

Further reading

  • Freed to Kill (1990), by editor Gera-Lind Kolarik with Wayne Klatt, is a book that linked Eyler to multiple murders (ultimately 21) in Indiana and Illinois following his brief detention by police in 1982. This influenced the re-opening of cases.
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